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Prof. Delagrammatikas Hosts STEM Program for Middle School Students

POSTED ON: June 8, 2016

Students from Islip's EXCEL program look at a motor they built. Photo courtesy of the Islip School District.

Students from Islip's EXCEL program look at a motor they built. Photo courtesy of the Islip School District.

George Delagrammatikas, associate professor of mechanical engineering and program director of STEM Outreach, hosted two groups of academically gifted students this spring, one from a middle school in Islip, New York the other from PS85Q in Astoria, Queens. 

The students took part in a hands-on lesson about circuitry at 41 Cooper Square, on May 20 and June 8. They ran an internal combustion engine, built a small electric motor from scratch and learned to use a laser cutter and a 3-D printer. Prof. Delagrammatikas, who founded and runs the STEM Saturdays program for high school students, believes that the sooner children experience the excitement and challenges of science, the more likely they are to consider STEM careers in the future. "That's particularly important for bringing girls and first-generation Americans into the field," he said. Of the 26 fourth graders from PS85Q who participated, 18 were girls.

See Cooper's K-12 STEM outreach page for more information.

More News from The Cooper Union

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.